Employment Lawyer Discusses What Trump Offer To Federal Employees To Resign Would Do
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have till February 6 to decide whether to voluntarily leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, informed employees on Tuesday that if they hand in their resignation by next Thursday - that's less than a week from now - most will be enabled to depart and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment legal representative who represents federal employees as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM's postponed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually do not consider it a lot a deal. I believe it's a demand to resign with a vague guarantee that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for as much as eight months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is because there appears to be the deal of administrative leave for as much as 8 months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: employment I would never explain it as a buyout. I think that's a really misleading term to utilize in this circumstance. When you think of a buyout, there's normally some sort of written agreement or a concrete deal to provide a benefit in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your recommendations, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise severe caution. There are no guarantees contained in this email. The only thing I can inform you for specific is that if you alter your mind, the agency's most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically offering up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of staff member who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most careful because leaving earlier than meant can have major effects, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, employment Karoline Leavitt. She told press reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who don't want to go back to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a suggestion to federal workers that they have to return in - to work. And if they don't, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is really generously providing to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply - in a manner, it breaks my heart that federal workers are being jerked around like this. It sends a signal to me that this return-to-office order is in bad faith, that it's developed to get folks who work truly difficult to resign. I think it's attempting to pull the wool over a lot of individuals's eyes since there are no guarantees. And these are individuals who enjoy their job. They like the objective of the agency. They strive. And today, they're dealing with really tough choices, especially if they're remote. I imply, it's really coercive.MARTIN: You state it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're somebody who lives in Oregon and has been informed to report to D.C. otherwise we're going to fire you, they might feel that they have no choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal difficulties just to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be sincere, is so extraordinary that I think a great deal of us are still trying to determine what to do with it. I'm not exactly sure if the deal itself might be challengeable. I believe the bigger question is the execution of these terms. I'm not knowledgeable about any authority that exists today for OPM to order companies to offer this variety of people administrative leave. So I believe it is very much potentially setting the phase for difficulties because I feel OPM has vastly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment legal representative with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, employment D.C. Thank you so much for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.
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